A 20-year-old had a heart attack and died after taking her boyfriend’s medicine to numb a crippling pain.

Louise Jones was on prescription painkillers after she developed cysts on her ovaries.

She was struck down with pain while on a night out celebrating boyfriend Robin Tucknott’s birthday and went home to help herself to his prescription for his injured ankle.

But when he returned to the flat they shared he found her dead on the floor of their kitchen.

An inquest at Eastbourne was told Miss Jones, who was a carer at the nearby Searchlight centre for people with disabilities, had been confirmed as having polycystic ovaries early this year and was being sick every evening.

Mr Tucknott said two weeks before her death Miss Jones was found unconscious on the sofa at their home in Meeching Road, Newhaven, after taking an overdose of codeine.

She was rushed to hospital but later told doctors she had no intention of taking her own life and had simply wanted to numb the pain.

Mr Tucknott described how on February 27 he had gone out with friends to the Harbourside Pub at about 5pm to celebrate his birthday.

He said: “She came along and had a Coke and took the keys to the flat. Then, as we were walking with my friends, she was sick over the wall.

“She said she wanted to go home but would phone me to tell me she was OK.”

Mr Tucknott said they had spoken at about 7.30pm and Miss Jones had said she was not feeling well and was going to bed.

But when Mr Tucknott returned to the flat he found his girlfriend on her knees in the kitchen. An ambulance was called but paramedics could not save Miss Jones.

A toxicology report showed she had suffered a cardiac arrest after taking a lethal dose of prescription painkillers. The drugs were confirmed as not being those prescribed to Miss Jones for her condition but to Mr Tucknott for his ankle.

East Sussex Coroner Alan Craze recorded a verdict of accidental death.

He said: “People usually make themselves comfortable if they are going to take an overdose deliberately and this was a patient who certainly didn’t make herself comfortable.

“She had taken a similar overdose two weeks beforehand and when questioned said she had no intention of killing herself. I believe she was in terrible pain and took more and more pills. I think on the balance of probability this was a simple accident.”

Her paramedic father Jeff Jones, 49, described her as a fun-loving young woman who was very popular and made people laugh.

He said her death had come as a great shock because she had so many plans for her life.